Belt



NEWELLT. roGG, or MELROSE, MASSACHUSETTS.

BELT.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Paten-ted' May 4,1920.

Aipplcation filed February 24, 1919; Serial No. 278,565. Renewed` February 2, 1920; Serial No. 355,697.

To all whom 'it may concern:

Be it known that I, NnwELL T. FoGG a citizen of they United States, residing at Melrose, county of Middlesex, Commonwealth 'of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Belts, of which the following is a specification. f

This invention relates tobelts for personal wear, and particularlywto a belt provided with a normally coiledv line adapted to be carried on the personV and unwound or detached: for Service as' occasion requires.

My invention is especially designed for use by boy scouts and like organizations asfpart of theirstandard equipment, and in the further treatment herein, I shall discuss it inl connection with a belt of the type worn by boy scouts.

The object of my invention is to provide a belt and line which may be comfortably Worn on the person without interfering with free body action and which may be readily uncoiled or detached forVV service as a lifeline, tow-line or forany'other purpose where a line may be needed.

My invention consists in the novel construction, arrangement, and relation of parts described in the following specification, illustrated in the accompanyingdrawings, and particularly pointedout in the appended claims.

Throughout the specification and drawings like reference characters are correspondingly applied, and in the drawings Figure l is an elevation of a line provided belt in accordance with my invention.

Fig. 2 is a detail view particularly illustrating a simple method of fastening the end of the line to the belt. v

Fig. 3 is a somewhat diagrammatic view illustrating a simple method of rapidly uncoiling the line, and

Fig. 4 is a view showing the line uncoiled.

For the purposes of this application, I have shown a belt of the type Worn by boy scouts as part of their Standard equipment. It will be understood of course that this showing is purely illustrative, and that I may apply the principles of my invention to other types of belts.

The illustrated belt consists of a length of webbing' l having the usual clasp 2 at one end whereby the belt may be adjusted to the body of the wearer, and as here shown, provided near each end with slidable swivel hooks 3 for the convenient suspension of various articles of equipment.

'Coiled along the belt in a plurality of close la'id parallel turns disposed longitudinally between the suspension hooks 3 is a line' 4 of suitable gagel and material.

The hooks 3 are attached to the belt by the bands or loops 31. Thesebands arezpreferably formed of strips bent around the belt and brought up in parallel ears 7 which are fastened together by a tubular rivet 8 through which the ring of the swivel 6 ofv the hook 3 is passed. The ears 7 are centrally disposed relative to the width of the belt so as to bring the swivel on the longitudinal axis of the belt and line roll.

The ends of the line 4 may be secured to the belt in any convenient manner, as by carrying the line through suitably reinforced spaced holes 5 formed in the belt, lrnotting the` line and'looping the free end under a few of the turns ofthe line, as shown in Fig. 2. If desired, however, one end of the line, preferablytheend adjacent the clasp 2 may bepermanently attached to the belt, or-the line ends may be held by any. conveniently detaehableclamp.

In Fig. 3, I have illustrated a convenient methody of rapidly unwinding the line. B removing the'w belt from: the* person" and hold? ing it outstretched by means of the Swiveled hooks 3, the belt will turn as a reel when the free end of the line is drawn in the direction indicated by the arrow in said gure.

When the device is to be used as a rescue outit the line is unwound and the belt reclasped in which condition it may be thrown with accuracy for some distance. The belt not only affords the necessary projective factor by its form and weight, but iS a convenient loop or sling through which the hand, arm or shoulder may be thrust.

The line 4 furthermore combines in a peculiar manner with the belt 1 by reason of the spaced eyeletted holes 5. These eyelets are of a size adapted to receive with a close lit the line 4.

By lacing the line 4 through a plurality of thesevholes and holding the belt taut, a frictional bind is effected by which a load either animate or inanimate may be eased olf or lowered. The belt in this use may be strapped around the person or grasped in the hands, who with the free end attached to some stationary object might for example lower himself from a window in case of fire. In this use the line 4 is permitted to feed frictionally through the eyelets of the belt being held by reason of the slant of the line in making the turn through each eyelet. Bi varying the number of eyelets throug which the line is passed, the degree of frietion may be adjusted. A scout trained with this belt would know in advance approximately the degree of friction added by each additional hole. For lowering a load from above the object is attached to thefree end and the line fed through the tightly stretched belt as a grip. In such a case the belt might be put around either the body or a tree trunk or other object bywhich the belt would be held taut. Y VariousA modifications in the form and construction of my device may obviously be resorted to if within the limits of the appended claims. Y

IVhat I therefore claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:-

1. VAs an article of personal wear, a life saving device consisting of a belt adapted to be normally worn about the body and removable therefrom and adapted to be hurled through the air as a loop-form hand-hold or life preserver,l and a life line secured at one end to the belt and wound thereon in a plurality of close-laid turns progressively incasing the belt and conforming thereto Vwhereby to permit the belt to be comfortably applied about the body, the free end of the line being held in the,v hand when the line is unwound and the belt removed from the body and hurled through the air.

2; A belt of the class described comprising a belt member and a relativel small line wound thereon in a plurality o closely-laid vbelt core being separable.

turns progressively inoasing the belt and conforming thereto, said belt having a plurality of openings of size to snugly receive the line when laced therethrough said openings being distributed longitudinally along Vsaid belt at intervals spaced for frictional feed of said line.

3. A belt for personal wear having a pair of suspension hooks swiveled thereon near the ends thereof, and a line wound on the belt between said hooks in a plurality of closely-laid turns and adapted to be unwound by a pull applied transversely to theV longitudinal axis of the belt, the belt rotating between said swiveled hooks as the line is unwound therefrom.

Y 4. A belt for personal wear having a pair of suspension hooks swiveled thereon on substantially the median line thereof and near the ends of said belt, andV a line woundon the belt between said hooks in a plurality of a gated body, and a flat belt core having *beltv fastenings projecting beyond the ends of said line member, said line member and said affix my signature in presence o two witnesses.

NEWELL T. FOGG.

In testimon whereof I Y Witnesses:

VICTORIA LOWDEN, MARION SF. WEISS. 

